A bit of history was made yesterday when Ludlow town council gave the freedom of the town to the Royal Welsh regiment.
It was a fantastic occasion, with a parade and ceremony in the Castle, followed by a march around the town watched and applauded by several thousand people. The star of the occasion, especially among children, was the regimental goat, Taffy.
Taffy the Regimental Goat
with Goat Major Fusilier Owen
Ludlow’s links with the Royal Welsh go back more than three centuries. On 16 March 1689 Henry, 4th Lord Herbert of Chirbury, was authorized by King William III to raise the 23rd of Foot [1]. The regiment, soon to be known as the Royal Welsh Fusiliers, was raised in the counties of Montgomery, Radnor and Shropshire and assembled in Ludlow Castle.
Last year, Ludlow Town Council resolved to give the honorary freedom of the town to the Royal Welsh on the 325th anniversary of the raising.
The parade in Ludlow Castle
Brigadier RH Wheeler accepts the Freedom of Ludlow
It took a lot of work to organise yesterday’s event. We owe our thanks to Ludlow Town councillors, council staff and Henry Chance who all worked incredibly hard to make the event such a success. We also owe our thanks to the Royal Welsh and the Band of the King’s Division who put on a superb parade. And we must thank them not just for parading but for defending our nation, a cause for which many members of the Royal Welsh have lost their lives.
Taking the salute at the Buttercross
Notes
[1] That Astonishing Infantry: The History of The Royal Welch Fusiliers 1689-2006, Michael Glover & Jonathan Riley, Pen and Sword, 2007.